London: Stepping up its preparations for a possible strike on Iran’ nuclear facilities, the United States is transporting hundreds of 387 ‘bunker-buster’ bombs to its air base on the British island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, a media report has claimed.The US government signed a contract in January with Superior Maritime Services to transport 10 ammunition containers to Diego Garcia from Concord, California, Sunday Herald has reported. The shipment includes 195 smart, guided Blu-110 bombs and 192 Blu-117 2,000lb bombs. The key Iranian nuclear facilities are said to be underground and both these type of bombs are effective against reinforced or underground facilities.

The United States and Israel have repeatedly asserted that they do not rule out a military action to stop Iran's nuclear ambitions and that they are keeping all the options on the table.

Contract details for the shipment were posted on an international tenders' website by the US Navy."They are gearing up totally for the destruction of Iran," Dan Plesch, director of the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy at the University of London, said.

"US bombers are ready today to destroy 10,000 targets in Iran in a few hours," Plesch, who is the co-author of a recent study on the US preparations for an attack on Iran, stressed.

The final decision on whether to launch an attack would be in the hands of US President Barack Obama. He may decide that it would be better for the US to act instead of Israel, Plesch argued. "The US is not publicising the scale of these preparations to deter Iran, tending to make confrontation more likely," Plesch said adding: "The US is using its forces as part of an overall strategy of shaping Iran's actions".Diego Garcia is a British territory about 1,000 miles south of India and Sri Lanka but is used as a US military base as part of an agreement reached in 1971. It has already been used in operations against Iraq during the 1991 and 2003 Gulf wars.

Meanwhile, US general David Petraeus said on Tuesday that Iranian efforts to develop a nuclear weapon appear to have been delayed "a bit" and voiced confidence it would not have a bomb this year.

The comments by the head of the US Central Command, which oversees wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, underscored the Obama administration's message to Israel and Gulf allies -- that there is time to pressure Iran to abandon its nuclear weapons program by imposing more economic sanctions.US president Barack Obama's top military advisers, including Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have been playing down the effectiveness of using military force against Iran.

"It has, thankfully, slid to the right a bit and it is not this calendar year, I don't think," Petraeus told a Senate panel when asked when Iran would have a nuclear weapon. Iran denies it is seeking to build nuclear weapons.Petraeus said while Obama had "explicitly stated that he has not taken the military option off the table", the administration's focus was on using different types of sanctions to get Tehran to change its behaviour. Petraeus has acknowledged that contingency planning was under way should Obama decide on military action but declined to discuss details during the open Senate hearing.

Last month, the US director of national intelligence, Dennis Blair, said Iranian advancements in enriching uranium and other areas showed the government was "technically capable" of producing enough highly enriched uranium for a weapon in the "next few years, if it chooses to do so".

If this happens during a worldwide economic depression the price of oil will skyrocket and make economic conditions even worst. This would be another dumb move by Obama the nobel peace prize winner to start a third war without finishing the other 2.

New Delhi, 19 March (Asiantribune.com):
Is the US planning multiple strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities? This speculation has been strengthened following a report by Scotland’s Sunday Herald that the Obama administration has contracted a Florida-based company to ship bunker buster bombs and other armaments to the island of Diego Garcia situated in the Indian Ocean with close proximity to the Iranian territory.

There has long been speculation that the US military is preparing for such an attack, should diplomacy fail to persuade Iran not to make nuclear weapons.

The key Iranian nuclear facilities are said to be underground and both these type of bombs are effective against reinforced or underground facilities. The United States and Israel have repeatedly asserted that they do not rule out a military action to stop Iran's nuclear ambitions and that they are keeping all the options on the table.

Diego Garcia, a small island occupied by the UK until 70’s was transferred to the US for use as a military base. The report by the Sunday Herald cites the secretive move to be a familiar Obama administration strategy in dealing with the Iranian nuclear programme.

But, some military analysts doubt the likelihood of a US military attack because of wide repercussions that such a strike might have. In recent weeks, the United States experienced a number of setbacks concerning the Iranian programme when China, Russia, Brazil and other powers rejected a call for tougher sanctions against Teheran.

The Sunday Herald has procured proof of an arms shipment to Diego Garcia, which consists of "of 195 smart, guided, Blu-110 bombs and 192 massive 2000lb Blu-117 bombs...put in place for an assault on Iran’s controversial nuclear facilities." Additional insight comes from Dan Plesch, director of the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy at the University of London: “They are gearing up totally for the destruction of Iran. US bombers are ready today to destroy 10,000 targets in Iran in a few hours." Will President Obama repeat George Bush's mistake with Iraq, resulting in a huge spike in oil, coupled with a rush to safety in dollars and/or gold?

If they plan to attack the Iran, then that will be in the history of "Downfall of a Great Imperial Nation called as United States of America". They already burnt their a*se in A'stan. Now they want to risk their face with Iran

Haven't they been planning this for a long time? Wouldn't it be disastrous for the US to execute something of this sort? What if Iran has more secret bases than what has been discovered by US and it's allies?!

Lisa Karpova
Pravda
March 19, 2010
It has been revealed that hundreds of powerful U.S. “bunker-buster” bombs are being shipped from California in the U.S. to the British island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in preparation for a possible attack on Iran. Although Diego Garcia is part of British Indian Ocean Territory, it is used by the US as a military base under an agreement made in 1971. The agreement led to 2,000 native islanders being forcibly evicted to the Seychelles and Mauritius.
According to reports, the U.S. government signed a contract in January to transport 10 ammunition containers to the island. According to a cargo manifest from the U.S. navy, this included 387 “Blu” bombs used for blasting hardened or underground structures. The stealth bomber hangers on the island were being specifically equipped to house the bunker-buster bombs.
Experts say that they are being put in place for an assault on Iran’s nuclear facilities. There has long been speculation that the US military is preparing for such an attack, despite all evidence to the contrary, that Iran is not planning on manufacturing nuclear weapons.
“They are gearing up totally for the destruction of Iran,” said Dan Plesch, director of the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy at the University of London, co-author of a recent study on U.S. preparations for an attack on Iran. “U.S. bombers are ready today to destroy 10,000 targets in Iran in a few hours,” he added.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Ten thousand targets? There is more to this than the concept of overkill or even the remote possibility that there are that many targets that can be described as part of Iran’s nuclear program. It is typical U.S. insanity and murderous behavior. The idea is to devastate, depopulate and rule. Does this planet need yet another people and nation devastated, with its infrastructure attacked by military hardware, made unlivable for its population in the foreseeable future? Does this planet need another area where terrorist bombings are a daily, hourly occurrence? This insanity has to be stopped, and it has to be stopped with all of us.
The civilized world cannot allow this to happen to another country. Iran is an ancient civilization and culture. In over 200 years, Iran has done absolutely nothing to infringe on its neighbors. However, quite the contrary is true. Iran has suffered regime change before at the hands of outsiders and has not forgotten it.
For more than half a century, Britain and the US have menaced Iran. In 1953, the CIA and MI6 overthrew the democratic government of Muhammed Mossadeq, an inspired nationalist who had the nerve to believe that Iranian oil belonged to Iran. They overthrew him and installed the venal Shan Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and, through a monstrous creation called Savak, built one of the most vicious police states of the modern era until the current leadership formed the Islamic Revolution. It is all about the vast reserves of oil on Iranian land, as well as global dominance.
Iran is a country of great history and culture, and a people that welcomed their Christian neighbors with open arms when they were under threat of total extinction.
Just to remind, on December 18, 2003, Iran signed the NPT (nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) Additional Protocol on Nuclear Safeguards, according greater access and the possibility of intrusive inspections to Iran’s nuclear facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This treaty specifically gives Iran the right to use nuclear energy for PEACEFUL purposes.
On the other hand, Israel sits on over 200 nuclear devices and refuses to sign the NPT. Israel’s nuclear facilities are not available and totally closed for outside inspection by the IAEA.
Just a couple of days ago, another threat came from Israel towards Europe. “We have hundreds of nuclear warheads and missiles that can reach different targets in the heart of the European continent, including beyond the borders of Rome, the Italian capital,” said Israeli military historian Martin Karfeld , adding that most of the European capitals would become preferred targets for the Israeli air force.
The Israeli historian reiterated Israel’s ability to destroy the whole world whenever it felt its existence would be doomed to extinction. Another time, another prominent Israeli announced that Israel would target all European capitals with their nukes…if and when the paranoid, hysterical Zionist state felt threatened, which is just about all the time, part of their perpetual state of mind. And yet Iran is put in the sites of U.S. disgusting, filthy, criminal, demonic military hardware? Let it all be cursed! Let the evil they plan for others fall back onto their own heads.
This frightening prospect of an unjustified, unprovoked, unmerciful, aggressive and unmitigated attack against Iran MUST be resisted by all civilized persons on the globe, beginning with those in Britain who must make known to their government that they do not want British territory involved in any aggressive attack against Iran, which will surely lead to a huge regional and possibly global warfare. Things are coming to a critical mass, approaching a point of no return. The time to speak and to act is NOW!
For Iran’s children, for Iran’s innocent, for Iran’s great civilization and past! Civilized humans of the world unite and STOP the insanity, stop the killers and destroyers of civilization, stop the war criminals! Stop aggression! Stop war! Stop imperialism! Damn the bombs! Damn the war pigs! We must all act together or we may all burn together!

I wonder why USA can strike Iran facilities and North Korean facilities?? North Korean program is 15 years old while Iranian is fairly recent.

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If north Korea got attacked then, Sk and japan will face a major invasion along with NATO forces. NK has a massive number in their armed forces. Iran will fairly have the muslim countries support if Obama done that blunder.

Iran can be a problem in the US bases in the middle East as well as operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Israel would also face a lot of pressure not just from Iran but also from Syria and Lebanon. This would also unite the Islamic world this can be viewed as a war against the islamic world since all 3 wars are against muslims.

If north Korea got attacked then, Sk and japan will face a major invasion along with NATO forces. NK has a massive number in their armed forces. Iran will fairly have the muslim countries support if Obama done that blunder.

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if obama attacks Iran they will pursue nukes even more vigourously with the intent to use them. This will be a big mistake IMO. Iranians are an advanced civilization ,diplomatic efforts have not even been vigourously pursued. The analogy was just to point out the double standard and hypocrisy in this policy.

if obama attacks Iran they will pursue nukes even more vigourously with the intent to use them. This will be a big mistake IMO. Iranians are an advanced civilization ,diplomatic efforts have not even been vigourously pursued. The analogy was just to point out the double standard and hypocrisy in this policy.

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Iran wont be that easy as like Iraq in 2003 or A'stan. They will screwed in all corner of middle east Kuwait and Israel. Turkey even may opt the diplomatic way of supporting the Iran.

why would any country that is a neighboring country want to make enemies?? Israel is probably the only country which may be with USA and even they are hesitant this would definetly reshape the middle east and damage the economy and relations of nations in that region.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad went to Kabul Wednesday, March 10 on three errands – two demonstrative and one substantive:
1. He needed to demonstrate Iran was still a potent player in the affairs of the region’s countries, notwithstanding the reverse suffered by the pro-Iranian alliance in Iraq’s general election. It was his intention to show that the Iraqi setback was an isolated episode.
(More about Iraq’s election results in HOT POINTS below.)
2. He wanted to emphasize that Tehran does not need to ask Washington for permission to take a hand in the affairs of Afghanistan or Iraq; Iran’s regional standing is solid enough for independent action.3. He decided to warn Afghan President Hamid Karzai against letting the Americans use their Afghan bases to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.
This possibility has got Iranian leaders deeply worried.DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s Iranian and intelligence sources report Tehran is anxiously tracking the US troop build-up in western Afghanistan, concentrated at the big air and military bases near Herat, not far from the Iranian border. The Iranian president told Karzai he cannot understand why special forces from the US 82nd Airborne Division and Air Force units are massed so close to the Iranian border in western Afghanistan, when the main coalition war thrust is going forward in the south.The pile-up of US forces in the West was even more puzzling, he found, in view of the fact that the southern town of Kandahar has been prescribed as the next US-led battle arena.

Tehran believes US is only pretending to restrain Israel…

The Iranian and Afghan presidents are both fluent in the Farsi language and could therefore speak tête-à-tête without interpreters.Ahmadinejad’s questions were largely rhetorical. He did not expect answers from Karzai, knowing that the Afghan president does not make the decisions on how to deploy US troops in his country – or even always know about international military movements. But, in the interests of regional politics – and with an eye on Pakistan and India too – Tehran chose to go on record as warning President Karzai that any US military action against Iran from Afghan soil would meet with an Iranian reprisal powerful enough to shake the Karzai government off its perch.The Iranian president told his Afghan host that a similar warning would be posted to Baghdad. The new Iraqi government would be warned after it is installed that Iran would have zero tolerance for an American attack staged from Iraqi soil.
From the content and tone of the Ahmadinejad-Karzai conversation in Kabul, DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s sources learned that Iran does not believe the Obama administration is sincere in its efforts to engage internal elements in diplomacy or in its moves to hold Israel back from attacking its nuclear sites. Iran fears these activities are just camouflage to obscure active American preparations for a strike.
The Iranians eye with mistrust the heavy traffic of American official visitors to Israel, including even Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint US Chiefs of Staff, and the frequent travel of top Israeli defense brass to Washington. Iranian intelligence analysts don’t buy the proposition that this activity is designed to restrain Israel and estimate that it is devoted to intense work for aligning US and Israeli military plans.
The Iranians are trying to sort out the date of this attack and find out which forces will take part, while wondering how well US and Israeli militaries mesh in the prospective operation.
Their skepticism may be genuine, but at the same time, Ahmadinejad understands the value of drumming up a threat by an outside enemy for uniting a nation behind its government. This is not a card he will pass up in his campaign to suppress every last dissident voice.

Is the United States planning to bomb Iran? A British newspaper has reported the United States is shipping bombs to the British island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to possibly do just that. This move is undoubtedly in preparation to attack Irans nuclear facilities if sanctions fail.Link

The US could deliver a strike on Iran, Russias military command said on Wednesday, adding that it will be devastating for the whole world. The aftermath of a strike against Iran will be terrible not only for Asia but for us and the whole global community also, said Chief of Russias General Staff General Nikolay Makarov at a news conference.

He said the US made its stance clear as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen recently spoke about plans to attack Iran.

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Makarov doubted that Washington could carry out the plan until the military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan are over.

The US is now conducting two military campaigns Afghanistan and Iraq. A third one would be a collapse for them; they will not stand it, Makarov said.

However, after these tasks are completed, the US could deliver a strike against Iran, he added.

The military chief also said, Iran is our neighbor and we are closely monitoring the situation. The Russian leadership is taking necessary measures to prevent this.

Watch the Spotlight interview with General Nikolay Makarov on February 23

However, Ruslan Pukhov from the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies believes that the US is unlikely to strike Iran militarily .

Obviously, Barack Obama is trying to act in a much smarter way than his predecessor, he said. He is trying to engage the others to block Iran and we see that the Europeans and Russians are less hesitant than several years ago.

Is the United States planning to bomb Iran? A British newspaper has reported the United States is shipping bombs to the British island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to possibly do just that. Lawrence Wilkerson says that if the US is, they cannot simply use airstrikes to attack Iran.

I am sick and Tired of these kind of news Items, calling that Iran will be attacked today tomorrow or maybe even YESTERDAY!!! What da heck?? I mean the USA bloody well knows it is in no position to wage a war against Iran and Iranians are a crazy lot, they cant be expected to accept what the Americans give and keep quiet. Israel knows this too!